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From: Lehmkuhl <>
Subject: Re: Navy
Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 12:18:59 -0400
In-Reply-To: <200406052100.i55L0YbQ019790@lists5.rootsweb.com>


>Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 12:33:20 +0200
>From: "Lucille Le Roux" <>
>Does anyone have any info on the Marines Simonstown ?
>Why it was disbanded and when? Approx 1990.
>Where would I find out about Border Wars and those who fought
>there...Angola etc.
>When did our young men start defending the border?
>Lucille LeRoux

Hi Lucille
Here is a bit of info that may help.

The "border war" began in Sept 1965, when Swapo's military wing Plan
(People's Liberation Army of Namibia), sent its first operatives into SWA,
slipping over the border from southern Angola into Ovamboland. In Feb 1966
a second group arrived, followed by a third group in Jul 1966. A fourth
group crossed over in Dec 1966.

The second group killed two Angolan shopkeepers and an Ovambo. The third
group attacked a number of Ovambo tribal chiefs, fired at a white farmer's
house in Grootfontein, and shot up the border post at Oshikango. In Mar
1966,helicopter-borne SWA policemen attacked the operatives' camp at
Ongulumbashe, killing two and capturing nine operatives. Later arrests
brought the number of captured operatives to 45.

In late Sept 1966, the homes of two white govt officials were set alight at
Oshikango. In Dec 1966, a number of armed attacks were carried out on
tribal headmen and a white farmer, P.J. BREEDT, was wounded in the
Grootfontein district. By the end of the year, 8 operatives had died and 59
had been captured. In Sept 1967, the first Plan members (37) went on trial
in Pretoria, charged under the Terrorism Act and Suppression of Communism Act.

Early in 1968, Plan sent in more operatives, into the Caprivi from bases in
Zambia. By Mar 1968, the SWA had 160 of them in prison. In Oct 1968, two
large groups of operatives slipped in from Angola - 56 were captured within
a week. By year end, 178 had either been killed or captured.

In Apr 1971, a Russian-made landmine blew up a police vehicle near Katima
Mulilo. During 1971-1972, five policemen were killed and 35 wounded by
landmine explosions.

By the end of 1973, it was discussed that the SADF take over responsibility
for counter-insurgency operations in the border operational area, leaving
the Police to their normal duties. The date was set for 01 Apr 1974. By
June 1974, SADF soldiers and airmen were in position along the Caprivi
Strip's 1680km border that started at the Cunene river mouth and ended at
Eastern Caprivi's fist. National servicemen were officered by Permanent
Force members and assisted by local black and Bushmen trackers. The patrols
were normal fighting patrols, while others were contact patrols (giving
agricultural and medical help to kraals and villages, listening to grievances).

It was also in Jun 1974, that then Minister of Defence, P.W. BOTHA,
announced that the SADF would become open to black South Africans in
combatant roles. Within a month, more than 300 blacks volunteered and the
first Coloured officers went into training.

On 21 Jun 1974, a news report said that about 100 Ovambos, including Swapo
leaders, had crossed into Angola.

On 29 Jun 1974, the first SADF death was announced - Lt. Freddie ZEELIE
(22) of Alberton and a member of the elite Reconnaissance Commando, died
the previous week in a skirmish with operatives who attempted to cross the
border into SWA.

On 03 Oct 1974, Staff-Sgt. W.J. BURGER of 2 South African Infantry
Battalion was killed in a shooting incident east of Katima Mulilo. In Dec
1974, it was announced that since Jul 1968, 31 policemen had died on border
duty.

By late 1975, large numbers of SADF personnel were deployed in Ovamboland
for the first time.

The "border war" officially ended on 01 Nov 1988 - 23 years after the first
shot was fired.

For a detailed history of this war, see the following books:

South Africa's Border War, by W. Steenkamp
Publisher: African Books Collective Ltd (1991). ISBN: 0620139676

South Africa's border war 1966-1989, by Willem Steenkamp
Publisher: Gibraltar, Rivonia, 1989. ISBN 0620139676
Illustrated history of the SWA/Namibian border war (now a standard
reference work, and soon to be re-published in up-dated form).

Avontuur in Angola; die verhaal van Suid- Afrika se soldate in Angola
1975-1976; by S. Du Preez
Pretoria, 1989

Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola; by W. Steenkamp
Durban, 1983
First detailed account of early South African military incursions into
Angola, 1978-1980 (now a standard reference work, and to be re-published in
updated form in 2004)


The Navy's ground forces are called Marines - they fight on land and defend
sea craft.

Also, many SADF members will not easily talk to people about their
experiences of the war. When they do talk, it is mostly to fellow SADF
members, who understand what they went through. Even family cannot relate
to most of these people's experiences. If they do not talk, don't see it as
a rebuttal. It is just easier to talk to fellow soldiers. They also often
feel that other people judge them unfairly as they do not have the full
picture.
I served in the SAAF for 3 years and my husband for 10 years (he then
served 6 years in the SAP).

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